We live in South Florida, so heating isn't really a concern on all but a few days of the year, (I like it cooler anyway), so as the sun sets earlier, lights may be turned on sooner, (we use CFL bulbs), but the Cebtral air runs A LOT less, so that more than makes up for the lights coming on sooner. Oh, and we have an on-demand tankless water heater, so we don't have that turning on an off all day trying to keep the water in the tank hot.

By opening shades on southfacing windows on sunny days , you are using passive solar to make the room feel a little warmer.
And parking in the sun in the winter will make the car feel a little warmer too.

By opening shades on southfacing windows on sunny days , you are using passive solar to make the room feel a little warmer.
And parking in the sun in the winter will make the car feel a little warmer too.

You got the wrong map for the northern hemisphere! The map showing is for down under! Although, it is true that we are tilted away from the sun during winter solstice, the northern hemisphere is the closer to the sun during the months from January to March.